My
name is Maria Short, owner and creative force behind Creative
Pastries.
The art of baking and its potential for limitless creativity has
always been my passion. "Celebrate life's special moments with
the delicious artistry of Creative Pastries." On the left is a
Fairy tale castle wedding cake.... Dreams really can come true
....A sugar castle that can be kept as a favorite wedding
momento, sits atop a three tier confection. A graceful stairway
carved from cake and adorned with rambling roses completes the
story. On the right is a Sculpted ballet box cake for a
ballet mistress's birthday. You can see these and more at my web
site, here>
http://www.creativepastries.fws1.com/
Maria

Turtle Crossing Cake

Contributed by: Lisa
S. (Murfreesboro, TN)

What a great idea! I really enjoyed
reading the other contributions to the corner. I thought I would
share my Turtle Crossing cake with everyone. I made it for my
Mother who's an avid turtle lover. If she sees one crossing the
road, she stops to help him to the other side. This cake is made
using a 2.5L Pyrex Bowl for the body, 4 mini-egg shapes for the
legs, and fondant that I sculpted to look like the turtle's tail
and head. To get the shell pattern, I traced squares on the
turtle's back and piped around the inside of each square with
butter cream. I used green butter cream and spatula-striped the
bag with brown and black to get the color variation. The head
and tail are sculpted around dowel rods and then scored with a
sharp blade. I then painted them with green food coloring. Next
time, I'll make his head bigger but

overall I was happy with the design and, most importantly,
Mom loved it!
Lisa

Pumpkins for Sale

Contributed by:
Elizabeth M. (Murfreesboro, TN)

This cake is made with two 8
inch rounds stacked for the barrel. I made the indentions in
the barrel with the edge of a large spreader. The pumpkins
are individual cupcakes stacked on top of each other. I made
the large lines on the pumpkins by piping the icing on using
a ziploc bag with a hole cut in the end. Then I just added
the stems and leaves. I was inspired to make this cake when
we took our son to the pumpkin patch this year and I
thought that the "pumpkins for sale" would make a great
cake.

Nephews 1st Birthday

Contributed by:
Bethany D. (Abington, MA)

For my nephews first birthday I wanted to
make him a special cake. I have always loved to bake but
don't really have the time anymore. His train theme was
inspiration for his cake, which I made using a sheet cake
pan and then cut out the shape. I used cupcakes for the
larger wheels and fondant covered cake for the smaller
wheels. I started with a crumb coat first and then used a
combination of fondant and icing to complete the cake. It
was a huge hit (good thing- it took me a while) along with
the cookie favors I made. The cookies were made of
shortbread which I made the week before. I iced and
decorated them with royal icing the day before his 1st
birthday party! I have created similar cookies for my
sister's baby shower in which we added sticks and made
centerpieces. I have also experimented with chocolate-
making these mini fudge wedding cakes (from Martha Stewart)
for a friend's bridal shower. I still would like to take
classes someday but in the meantime helping family out is
just as much fun!!

I love your site- not only do you have a
great selection of everything but your helpful instructions
and hints are lifesavers.